China has ordered travel agents to stop selling holiday packages to South Korea in the wake of heightened tensions due to South Korean intentions to deploy an American missile defense system, which China says will destabilise the region. Stocks in South Korean tourism-related companies plummeted on the news, with South Korean and Chinese airlines sure to feel the impact of the ban since nearly half of all foreign visitors to South Korea last year were from China. This is a worrying development indeed for our industry.

Meanwhile, the healthy run of aviation-related bonds issuances continued yesterday with Air Lease Corporation’s (ALC) public offering of $500 million 3.625% unsecured senior notes due 2027. The notes were offered at a slight discount to par of 98.241%. The sale will close on March 8, 2017.

ALC intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include the purchase of commercial aircraft and the repayment of existing debt.

China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC) also issued bonds this week, joining AerCap, Avolon and Aviation Capital Group, which also took advantage of the strong capital markets during the first quarter of 2017 to raise funding in the US bond market